Conversations in Sussex
by Battered notebook of stories
Summary: Written for the 2008 Yuletide challenge. "I wrote...." Indiana Jones helps Holmes and Russell wrap up a case, Russell and Holmes locate someone Indy can't forget.


"I wrote..."

"A year later. By that time Mutt was born and I was married!"

Indy and Marion, Kingdom of the Crystal Skull

October 1938

Sussex England

With a hiss of tires on gravel, the hired car turned down a curving drive and pulled up smoothly outside the stone cottage at its' end. A man in his late 30s got out from behind the wheel and opened the passenger door for an older, bearded man in a tweed jacket and glasses.

"Here we are, Dad" said Indiana Jones

A smiling country girl in an apron answered their knock and ushered the Doctors Jones to a comfortable sitting room. A moment later, their hostess hastened in to greet them. She was a tall woman in her late 30s, with long blonde hair pinned atop her head in a braided coronet. Her eyes were shadowed by lack of sleep, but her smile was warm and one hand was outstretched in greeting.

"Indiana, it's so good to see you", said Mary Russell. "And this must be..."

Henry Sr. cleared his throat, and Indy remembered his manners.

"Mary, may I present my father, Dr. Henry Jones, Senior. Dad, I'd very much like you to meet our colleague, Dr. Mary Russell-Holmes."

Henry Sr. took Russell's offered with a courtly bow.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Dr Russell-Holmes. Indiana has told me a little about you and Mr. Holmes. A living legend…It will be an honor to meet you both."

"How is the grand old man, Mary? I heard he'd been ill," said Indy.

"He's improving, but not out of the woods yet. Which intelligence I beg you will not convey to him. We've both been looking forward to your visit, Dr. Jones."

"Thank you" said father and son simultaneously.

Russell led her guests to a spacious upstairs room, obviously set up for the use of an unwell man. A table in one corner was set with a substantial high tea. A plump, matronly nursing sister bustled about the room, attending to her patient.

He was tall, lean grey haired man, propped up on pillows. Although his face was white and drawn from illness, his grey eyes held a piercing intelligence and his mouth was set in a firm, pleasant line.

Mary Russell bent down to kiss her husband, then spoke to the nurse.

"Thank you so much Mrs. MacKenzie. Everything looks splendid. Now please, do go and enjoy you half day-Holmes and I will be fine." The nurse left with a curtsy and a murmured thank you.

"Mrs. MacKenzie is a jewel", Russell, explained, "but she's very proprietary. I don't think she quite trusts me to take care of my own husband."

Holmes impatiently waved the medical talk away and beckoned to Indy.

"Ah, young Dr. Jones. A pleasure. And this must be.."

Indiana stepped forward and gave Holmes his hand. "Mr. Holmes, I'd like you to meet my father, Dr. Henry Jones, Senior. Dad, it's my honor to introduce you to Sherlock Holmes."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Dr. Jones. I attended one of your Grail lectures some years ago and was most impressed by your command of the subject."

"Thank you, sir, said Henry Sr. inclining his head.

"Russell and I have been eagerly anticipating your account of the Grail, sir."

"Then perhaps we should get started", said Henry, reaching into his pocket for a worn notebook. "I've recorded most of my findings here, in my Grail diary. Before we get too far into the story we should review a few points…"

All three scholars bent over the Grail diary. Soon Holmes and Russell were listening, enthralled, as Henry recounted his search for the Grail, and the journey that had brought him to the object of his lifelong quest. Indiana offered the occasional comment, but was content for the most part to allow Henry Sr. to tell the story.

Just as he reached the tale of the Old Knight, Mary Russell raised a hand.

"If I might interrupt, gentlemen?"

"But of course, Russell" Holmes responded.

"Holmes. Do you remember that case we worked on in Norway in '35?"

Holmes directed a penetrating look at his wife.

"I do. And you're entirely right- young Indiana here could help us tie up a few loose ends. If you two would care to discuss them downstairs, Dr Jones and I could continue our delightful conversation."

Russell ushered Indiana back into the sitting room.

"I believe that this conversation may call for something stronger than tea. Whiskey?"

"Yes, thank you." Indy took an appreciative sip of the fine liquor. "What exactly do you think I can clear up for you, Mary?"

"Now, the Dr Schneider your father mentioned- would that have happened to be a Dr. _Elsa_ Schneider? Very young, very blonde, very…willing?"

"Yes. And how might you have known the late Elsa Schneider, Dr. Russell-Holmes?"

"I made Dr. Schneider's acquaintance three years ago, Indiana. And I must say she's the sort of female...one can hardly say_ lady,_ who gives other women in academe a bad name''

"Earned that doctorate on her back, did she? Can't say I'm surprised."

"I doubt you are," Russell answered dryly. "There's likely a bit more to this story than you're telling, my friend. But, to answer your question, I encountered Dr. Schneider when Holmes and I were investigating the disappearance of a Norwegian named Peder Almvig. The late Dr Almvig was working with a physicist named Niels Bohr on…certain scientific matters that are of great interest to the Third Reich. Elsa Schneider crossed his path, and, ah, succeeded in engaging his attention. Eventually, she enticed him to a rendezvous. There Peder, shall we say, _become available_ to those interested parties, who were quite determined to know what he knew."

Indy snorted. "That does sound like Elsa's _modus operandi_..."

Russell looked out the window for a long moment.

"To the best of my knowledge, Dr. Almvig died very bravely," she finally said. "But" ...she licked her lips, "my informant tells me that it was a somewhat protracted affair that was neither easy nor pleasant."

Indiana's face twisted. "God. And that's what could have happened to Dad."

"Or to you"

Indy nodded. "Yeah, I guess so."

Russell gave shook herself and continued briskly "The reason I'm telling you this is not to fill your head with horrors. It's because I should very much like your permission to inform Dr. _Lars_ Almvig that his brother's betrayer has met her fate. I would only tell him that Elsa, in a dangerous situation, was herself betrayed by her own vanity and greed. I shan't reveal the details."

"Well, if it gives the man's family some comfort, I can't say I mind. You've got my permission for whatever it's worth. But I'm going to ask you for something in return."

Russell raised an inquiring brow. "Oh? And what might that be?"

"I want you to find someone for me."

Russell leaned over and topped off Indiana's glass.

"I thought there might be something troubling you. And, forgive me, but your lovely Marion has been conspicuous by her absence, today. Both from your side and your conversation.."

'Yes." Indy looked studiously into his drink. "We, ah, parted ways late last year.'

"Parted ways?"

"Actually, nothing as graceful as that. I left her- a week before we were to be married. Lit off after the Cross of Coronado and left a note. She was gone when I came back. And now I can't find her."

Russell stood, up folded her arms and turned a cold, appraising glare on her friend and colleague.

Indy returned her gaze for a moment, then dropped his eyes and put his head in his hands.

"The last time I got a look like that, Dad was saying 'bend over, Junior, and take your medicine like a man.' He had a razor strop in his hand, as I recall."

"I must say his remedy seems apropos. That was simply abominable…"

"I know," said Indy bleakly. "I'm a bounder and a cad and not fit for the company of decent men or women.

He turned his drink in his hand and spoke softly. "You know, a couple years back, I saw a man's heart ripped living from his chest. Ghastly."

He looked up at Russell, then and she saw, not the cynical adventurer, or the urbane man of the world, but the passionate, sulky boy that she and Holmes had first befriended during the Great War. "_Mary_. Help me. Don't you see-that's what I've done. I've torn the heart out of my life and I don't know what to do. I've got to find her."

"And if you should find her, what then?

"Probably take a good right to the jaw. But I'd tell her I'm sorry, tell her I still love her, see if by some miracle she'll give me another chance…"

"Indiana, what happened between you? When last we met, we were all on an ocean liner bound for the states. You and your Marion were conveying an artifact to America. Though you two, as I recall, were spending the majority of the time in your stateroom. Most of the other passengers thought you were on your honeymoon."

"Essentially, we were." Indy's face softened and he smiled reminiscently. "I was so _happy_, Mary. _ We_ were so happy. I had my sweet baby back and the whole world on a string. I thought that, finally, everything would be all right and we'd just go on like that forever and ever."

"But when we got stateside... it was different. Marion wanted …well for one thing she wanted to work..."

He threw up his hands. "Why the hell did she need to do _that_? I'm not a broke teaching assistant, now. I make plenty of money! I used to be everything to her-why wasn't I enough anymore? She said she wanted a life-well, fine._ I _was her life. I _needed_ her."

"And I suppose" said Russell softly, "that you spent 24 hours a day worshiping her? That you had no friends, no work, no interests apart from her?"

"And then I got a lead on the Cross of Coronado. I've been looking for that thing my whole _life_. We quarreled, and I left. It didn't take too long for me to realize what I'd done. I wanted to make it up to her somehow. But when I came back she was packed up and gone. I think some of our friends know where she is, but nobody will tell me."

"So, what now?"

Indy paused. "Now? Mary, the world is full of beddable women. But they're none of them her, and she's all I want. If she wants a job so badly I guess I can live with it. It's a different world than the one my mother lived in with my father-maybe I can get used to it. Can you find her for me? Even if she won't see me, would you take her a letter?"

"Holmes and I have our…methods and I believe we can find her. I give you my word that your letter will be delivered if she is still she has died"-Indiana went white- "we will so inform you."

"But"-Russell sat down in front of Indy and looked at him searchingly "When she receives your letter, it will be her decision and hers alone, about how to proceed. She may well conclude that she wants nothing to do with you. She may not respond at all."

"But..."

"Whatever Marion's' choice, it must be respected." Russell continued firmly. "I will have your promise, Indiana, that you will not press me to reveal her whereabouts, or tell you anything I find out about her life."

"If she does have another man, now, will you at least tell me" Indiana swallowed, and then continued, painfully "if he's good to her? If he loves her, and holds her when it thunders, and protects her like he should?"

"Only if she says I may. You've an uncanny knack, my lad, for escaping the consequences of your actions. Your luck may have run out, this time."

Indy sat and looked at his hands. "You drive a hard bargain, Dr. Russell-Holmes."

"Perhaps. You're not the first person to tell me that, Doctor Jones."

'I guess I'd better start writing."

Indy sat at Russell's desk and wrote for the rest of the afternoon. He wrote through the dinner that his father enjoyed with Holmes and Russell. There were impassioned pleas, attempts at humor, and, once, the first four lines of a sonnet. Soon Indy was sitting in a sea of crumpled paper. The wastebasket overflowed with failed attempts, some of which made their way to the floor. Finally, he signed a page _Missing you, Indy. _He folded up the paper and sealed it in an envelope.

"God", Indy said tiredly, "I'd rather write my dissertation over. In longhand. But this will have to do, Mary."

Russell took the envelope from him and smiled. "I do wish you well, Indiana. Holmes and I will do our best. Now if you would join him in the sitting room, Holmes would like a word."

Holmes was seated in his basket chair by the fire. "Do forgive an old man for not getting up, Indiana. Now. Russell told me, and not your father, I might add, the reason you were sitting at her desk and writing so diligently."

He fixed the younger man with a steely gaze. "Any reasonable person hearing the facts of this matter would conclude that you've behaved execrably. And would think that you've done enough damage to Miss Ravenwood's life and that she's better off without you"

"Mary is much younger than you are-I thought you'd understand."

"Oh I do understand quite well. I also understand that no gentleman beds a girl of 16. Even if he is developing the tenderer emotions for her. Even if he intends to offer her marriage. And no gentleman man leaves his fiancée at the altar with only a note. "

"Then why did you agree to help me, sir?"

"Because I also remember how very difficult it was. There were times when I myself could have fallen to temptation. Your Miss Ravenwood likely used every feminine wile at her disposal to tease and tempt you. And you were a young man, with a young man's vulnerability in such matters. So I am inclined not to judge you too harshly."

"Thank you."

"What troubles me more is your stunning lack of insight into why things went so awry between you two after you found her again. The possession of a , Dr. Jones, from such a prestigious institution as the University of Paris implies that the individual holding it has acquired the habit of rigorous thought."

Indiana bit his lip at this unaccustomed chastisement, and reminded himself that Holmes and Russell were his only chance.

Holmes steepled his fingers and continued. "When you first became involved, Miss Ravenwood presented you with the combination of a mother's loving care, a girl's devoted hero worship, and a lovely, willing concubine for your bed. Many a man would have found that irresistible."

Indiana sighed. "I certainly did."

"From what Russell has told me I believe that the difficulties you two experienced were rooted, not in the time you spent together, but in the ten years you spent apart. A woman of seven-and-twenty is not the same as a girl of seventeen. I had the joy of training Russell to be my equal, and seeing her grow into a true partner and helpmeet. That's not an experience you and Marion Ravenwood were fortunate enough to share. And when you were reunited, you were simply unprepared to meet her on adult terms."

'"I speak from experience here, Indiana. Russell has a life, and interests of her own. They do not diminish our life together. Or her love for me. The conundrum you must solve is whether or not you can accept that principle in your own life. They say in Nepal that one can never step into the same river twice. "

"They say a _lot _of things in Nepal, Mr. Holmes. I've thought some of them over this last year."

"And what, if anything, have you concluded?"

"That I don't care what river Marion and I step into as long as we do it together."

"I hope that will be enough. I also have one final piece of advice for you.

Maintain a permanent, publicly accessible address. Through your college, perhaps. It's been my experience that in these cases of estrangement, some of the bitterness fades over time. Miss Ravenwood may not be ready to contact you now, but perhaps later she will be. You may have cause to be thankful, in future, that you left that door open."

I'll do that, sir. Thank you."

"I wish you well, young man. I've learnt that greatest mysteries on earth are those of the heart. I think that yours may yet have a successful outcome."

Sometime later, Dr Henry Jones, Jr. opened an envelope from Western Union in his office, under the worried gaze of Marcus Brody.

TELEGRAM

TO: PROF. H. W. JONES JR

MARSHALL COLLEGE, BEDFORD, CT

FROM: M. RUSSELL

SUSSEX, ENGLAND

MISSIVE DELIVERED STOP

RECIPIENT SAFE AND WELL STOP

REGRET CHANCES FOR REPLY NOT PROMISING STOP

REMEMBER SH ADVICE STOP

REGARDS MRH FULL STOP

Not trusting his voice, he handed the telegram to Marcus.

"She's safe and well, Indiana" Marcus said quietly. "That's at least something."

"Yeah." Indiana pressed his lips together briefly. "Yeah it is. What do you suppose Mary means by 'not promising', Marcus?"

Indy, I 'm sorry to be the one to say this, but Dr. Russell-Holmes doubtless meant that there's another man in Marion's life, now. And that she's giving him the loyalty and love that she, so unstintingly, gave to you."

Indy closed his eyes, for a moment. "Whoever he is, Marcus, the guy's one lucky bastard. I hope he knows it."

"Indeed."

"Because if he doesn't- if he's not good to her, if he hurts her, and I ever find out- I swear to God I will hunt him down and kill him, and the hell with anything I promised Mary."

"Well", Indiana rose from his chair with a show of briskness, "Marion knows where to find me if she needs me. I suppose that's all I can ask."

Marcus looked at his friend "Are you going to be all right, Indy?"

"Eventually, Marcus. Eventually."

FIN


End file.
